Because he was the source and I no longer trusted him. I needed more information before I confronted him. Because if he was having an affair, I was out.

So I needed to know for sure.

“Maybe you should go to the doctor, babe.” Jeremy massaged my shoulder and I cringed beneath his fingers.

“You’re shivering,” he said, mistaking my revulsion toward him for something else. Just like he’d mistaken everything since Friday.

He’d mistaken why I was sleeping in the guest bedroom. He thought I didn’t want to infect him with whatever had made me so sick on the side of the road.

He’d mistaken why I hadn’t gotten out of bed on Saturday. He thought I had a bad flu bug because of how red and puffy my eyes were.

And then, he’d mistaken why I hadn’t gone to church yesterday. He thought it was a combination of the above.

But it was time for me to get up. And time for me to speak my first words to him. “I’m fine. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“Are you kidding me? Babe, I’ll always take care of you.” When he kissed my cheek, I closed my eyes and pressed down the rising bile inside of me. “So you feel well enough to get up and move around? You know you don’t have to. Dru took the kids straight to school, but Lizzy can pick them up because Dru’s running down to New Orleans for a couple of days, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” I mumbled, I said, though I had forgotten. I was usually on top of things like this, but I hadn’t been in my right mind for the last sixty hours.

“So Lizzy can pick them up if you want because you know this is the beginning of Carmen’s vacation, too. Seems like everyone is out of town.”

While he chuckled as if he’d somehow found humor in those words, I shook my head. I’d forgotten about our nanny, too. It really was time for me to get back into the game. I had to take care of my business. “Like I said, I’m fine. I’m going to take a shower and get into the office. I’ll pick up the kids.”

“Are you sure? You were knocked out this weekend. You sure you’ve recovered from whatever you had?”

I gave him a hard glare. “I’m not sure if I’ve recovered, but I know for sure that I will. Soon enough.” I paused. “And there are no excuses with my kids. I will pick them up.”

He nodded, missing all of my cues. “Well, don’t do too much today. I don’t want whatever took you out to come back.”

“Neither do I.”